The Hunters
by AsgardianDragonRider
Summary: The Moroi and dhampir are at war with more than just Strigoi. They live in fear of Hunters and Elementals, evil children born of Strigoi blood to hunt their kind down. The only problem with the whole thing is Rose Hathaway...Unknown to everyone apart from Eddie, she is also a Hunter. And not as evil as the vampires think. Will she stop this war? And what exactly will it cost her?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"Quick, get out of here now!" he screamed on the top of his lungs. "Dean, take Sam and Clary outside now!" He ran into Sam's room screaming 'stop it'. I could smell burning and everything was hot, and it felt like my lungs were on fire.

"Run!" I barely heard Dean say it, everything was moving so fast. Before I knew it, we had sprinted down the stairs and ran outside into the cold night. From here we could see the house covered in a blanket of flames and smoke. I watched my Dad run out of the house as fast as he could, stumbling as he fell over his own feet. He had tears running down his face uncontrollably as we all watched in silence as our house burnt down.

"Daddy, where is Mummy?" I asked the question that would haunt me for the rest of my life, and somehow, I knew the answer already.

"She's gone, Charlie… Your mum's dead, I'm sorry. A demon killed her."

We all stood still as we processed the news. _She's dead_. I would have cried like waterfalls coming from my eyelids, but I was used to this news. We were taught that everyday people would die around us. It was nothing new. That's what it was like being one of_ us_. Slowly, I unconsciously let a tear fall down my cheeks. But I wiped it away before anyone could see. And I thought I had gotten away with it, but Dean saw, and he had done the same. Sammy was crying hysterically with tears falling down his cheeks like rain on a window. Dad was controlled, quiet. But I knew he was dying on the inside. We stood there, watching our house turn to ash, quietly.

That's when I woke up. That's when I _always_ wake up. I always have that dream. Or nightmare should I say… No one knows except for Dean. Out of both him and Sammy, he's the one I'm closer to. I don't talk about it much. I can't. No one here knows the truth about me except for Eddie. People here think I'm a 17-year-old dhampir novice who has killed two Strigoi. They think my name is Rosemarie Hathaway.

They are all wrong.

My real name is Clary Rosemarie Winchester. And I'm not a dhampir. I'm a _Hunter…_

There are so much more than just humans on this world. There are demons and vampires, werewolves and shapeshifters, and many _many _more. There are races like the Moroi and dhampirs. Moroi are mortal vampires who can control one of the five elements. The dhampirs are half Moroi and half human and they protect the Moroi from the Strigoi, a type of immortal vampire. Their kinds are at war. A war they are losing. But they are also at war with _us._

Who are we? We're the Elementals and Hunters. Similar to humans but Elementals have the ability to use a sort of elemental magic, like the Moroi but a different at the same time. Whereas the Moroi can manipulate the elements slightly, move them, stop them, control them; the way an Elemental uses their magic is different. We don't refer to it as magic, but more as _bending._ It's a part of us, it comes from within us. It's an art form. An elemental can bend one of the 5 elements; Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Spirit.

Then there's us. They call us Hunters. Half Elemental and half human. Our version of a dhampir but not quite. You see, there's 6 types of Hunter, all dependent on if and which element they inherit.

When an Elemental is born, they can be born with any element and it's essentially randomly assigned but due to our half human nature, we tend to be different. The first is just a Hunter, someone who doesn't actually inherit any of the elemental magic and they tend to be the closest thing to a dhampir we have. The only difference is that all the dhampirs heightened senses, strength and speed are just more so in a Hunter. In fact, they tend to be the strongest of all of us.

Secondly, we have the Therian. These are hunters with earth magic in them, but, most likely due to our human blood, they can't actually use earth magic like Elementals can, but it instead is a physical part of them. Therians can take an animal form, and it's seen as a representation of their primal desires and their souls.

Then, we have the Merfolk. These hunters are where the tales of mermaids come from. Due to their water magic, they can transform slightly as water is a higher element than earth, but also use water magic to an extent. They can bend water in its liquid form and some skilled users can use it to heal.

After them, we have the Seraphim. That's what Eddie is. A hunter with air magic in them. They're born with wings and can use air magic to the same extent as an Elemental.

The fifth type of Hunters are the Drakon. That's what I am. A hunter with fire magic in them. We can bend fire just like an elemental can, but fire is the highest of the 4 physical elements and we don't tend to have a physical manifestation of the element unlike the others with their shifting, tails and wings. But we tend to be able to form close relationships with dragons, the first fire benders, and something fire elementals can't do.

Then we have the last type. We just call them Spirit Hunters or Spirit users. Apart from the human blood in their veins, there is no difference between them and a Spirit Elemental. Essentially psychic, they can perform mental capabilities like telepathy, telekinesis and aura reading.

Both Eddie and I are staying at St Vladimir's academy, undercover for our people. No one here knows what we truly are. Not even my best friend and bond mate, Vasilisa Dragomir, or my mentor and the man I love, Dimitri Belikov. If they did, they'd kill me...


	2. Chapter 1 - Beginnings

**Chapter 1 - Beginnings**

There are things in this world that, to humans, wouldn't make any sense. If you spoke about vampires, demons, ghosts and monsters to a random human, you'd probably get called insane and locked up. But to us, these things are every day normal issues.

"See you guys around, I'll let you know if another case comes up for you." We hear shouting from the car we jump out of as it speeds away, leaving a trail of dust behind.

"No worries Syd! Speak to you later!" Eddie shouts back as we start the few miles back to the academy.

Sydney Sage isn't one of those humans. She's an alchemist, a secret organisation that hides the supernatural from the rest of the human world. She's well aware of myself and Eddie and what we are as well as the Moroi and dhampirs. The Alchemists aren't very fond of the Moroi and dhampirs. Believe they're 'evil creatures of the night' especially how they tend to live in opposite schedules to humans as well as us. When I was younger, I used to feel the same. But since coming to the academy, I've gained a lot of respect for the two species. More so the dhampirs and _non-royal _Moroi, but respect, nevertheless. But the alchemists are different with us. More friendly, trusting. Our relationship with them goes way back.

You see, there are two divisions of the alchemists. First, the part of the group that deals with the Moroi and dhampir. They tend to help them cover up Strigoi kills and things like that. They also happen to be the lower ranks of alchemists, where everyone starts out and they tend to be unaware of _us_. The second division, the one we deal with, is the supernatural division. They deal with us, cases of monsters and demons, the odd witch and other things that are very out of the ordinary. Only the best alchemists work in that division, Sydney Sage included.

The dhampirs and Moroi have always been very secretive about their work with the human group, only telling dhampir novices about them when they graduate and most Moroi never knowing of them. For our people, we are told about the alchemists and their importance to our way of life as soon as we can understand it. Eddie and I grew up with Sydney and her sisters so have always been around alchemists. This difference in our culture tends to be why we end up being better prepared for the real monsters out there. We actively seek them out to destroy them whereas the dhampir take a more defensive approach and try to limit any Strigoi interaction.

As we both watch Sydney drive off in her sleek black convertible, we begin on the journey back to St Vladimir's Academy. Stretching his arms, Eddie breathes in heavily before looking my way and as he exhales, his tawny wings uncurl from where they're hidden by the glamour charm and he flaps them a few times to get used to the feeling and weight of them on his back again as I wait for my dragon to reach us from where he flies above us. As the black scaled beast comes to my side, I jump on as we both ascend into the dark skies above.

It's not often we can do things like this. For the majority of our time, we are stuck behind the gates of the academy, where we have to pretend, we are just dhampirs, training to be guardians, and not that we're _hunters. _The same species the Moroi and dhampir are hunting down and have declared war on, over 500 years ago.

When we were 10, we were both sent here under pretences we were orphaned dhampirs from an attack, made to infiltrate their society and find a way to stop this war. We set targets, people to get close to. Both of us had the two youngest Dragomir's as our 'charges'. The plan was for Eddie and me to find a way to end up as the Guardians for both Andre and Vassilissa Dragomir, but over the years, it got complicated. We were meant to stay apathetic to everything. To not let our emotions, get in the way, and we managed it, until the car crash.

The same car crash that killed me and caused me to be bought back by Lissa's Spirit and now leaving me shadow kissed to her. An increasing issue for both myself, and my dragon.

But, changes in the way the dhampirs have been looking for us have caused our leaders to think about pulling us out of the academy. On fears that it may be ineffective, and we should take the fight to them now and in regard to the closeness we both exhibit due to our ties with the Moroi and dhampir world.

Neither of us ever thought that we would care for these people the way we do, that I'd consider them family. But we do. And leaving them will be the hardest things we've ever had to and admitting what we are and how we've lied even harder.

But I fear that it will come sooner rather than later.

As much as we have come to love these people, our loyalties lie with ours. Our people, our friends and our family. And if it comes to it, we will fight for us before them. Every single time. I just don't think any of them will understand…

I watch Eddie spread his arms out as he glides on the wind, my dragon doing the same. I met Toothless years ago when we were both younger and we immediately felt the bond between us connect. For some reason, Drakon Hunters can bond with dragons, and to find our draconic bonds is a special and uncommon thing. One of the hardest things while I'm at the academy is being away from him. Usually, we're stuck by each other's sides, but here we can't be. If the vampires here saw him, they'd try and kill him on sight.

"They're going to flip when we get back, ya know." Eddie whispers from his place on my left, playing with the air currents underneath his large wings.

"Yeah… randomly leaving probably wasn't our best idea." I mutter. "But to be fair, we didn't have much time to prepare… it was a last-minute decision."

We've been gone for over a week now, on some demon hunt in New York as well as visiting the Council about our futures here at St Vlad's. We had to up and leave without telling anyone about it and are sure to be in a heap of trouble when we get back.

"We'll need to make time to practise our bending too though Charlie. Just in case…" He admits, head lowering as we come in on our target.

Below us, hidden by the wide expanse of forest, is a cabin by a lake, far enough from the academy that any guardians are unlikely to come this far but close enough for us to get to and back without raising any suspicions. As Eddie tucks his wings into his body, he dives down, followed closely by Toothless and I as we glide down to the forest floor.

As we land, we quickly leave the dragon back at the cabin and make our way back to the school, leaving behind any hunter weapons we have on us apart from a hidden silver dagger in my boot.

The closer we get, the more anxious I feel. Since we left a week ago, Lissa has blocked me out of the bond and I've had only snippets of what she's feeling. Also, we are both well aware that we are bound to get a few lectures and if we can't sweet talk Kirova into letting us stay, may even have to leave. The thought of it has even crossed my mind. It would be easier…

But we have a job to do. And we're going to carry on doing it until new orders come in.

10 minutes away from the gate, and it's 2 in the morning (Moroi time so it's like 2pm). It's chilly outside and I tug my black leather jacket harder against me. The winds blowing quietly around us as we hear rustling in the woods around us. Silently, we both slip our knives into our hands as Eddie hides his wings back against him. We slow to a stop as we listen out, and we both notice the scent just before a girl leaps out at us, mouth full of razor-sharp fangs bared at me as my arm blocks her head.

Eddie quickly decapitates the vampire as another jumps on his back, fangs bared for his neck as I grab the vampire from his shoulders and using my dagger, hack at the head quickly to kill the vampire. We wait for a while before looking around.

"I can't smell anymore on the air." Eddie says, both my dagger and his knife now gripped tightly in his hands as I throw flame from my own palms.

"I think that's it. But I'll get Toothless to check around and let us know." I announce before we calm down and make our way back to the academy gates after hiding the two bodies away, knives now hidden and fire quenched.

The two creatures that just attacked us were vampires but not the type living behind the gates of St Vlad's, and not the same type we killed in Spokane a few months back. Another, different type. Older, stranger. With rows of fangs hidden above their normal human set. The only way to weaken them is with dead man's blood and the only way to kill them is decapitation.

"What in the hell were two vampires doing so close to Moroi lands?" Eddie wonders quietly as the black gates come into view.

"Not a clue, but I have a feeling we'll find out soon enough." I whisper before a figure comes into view at the gates.

A figure clad in the black and white uniform of the Guardians shout out at us as we stand outside the gates.

"Who's there?" We hear as a bright torch shines into our eyes.

"Novices Hathaway and Castile." I shout back as I raise my arm to block the light.

The light falls quickly as the gates open to let us in and we are met with a guardian called Yuri.

"Eddie, Rose. You're back. I thought you two had done a runner…" He admits while looking us over and sending a quick text to, I assume, Guardian Petrov and the Headmistress.

"Well, got bored so came back." I quipped as he shook his head at the two of us, trying to hide a smirk.

"Well, Guardian Petrov and Headmistress Kirova want you in Kirova's office immediately so I'd get going if I was you two." He says before ushering us on our way.

Hiking our bags up on our backs, we shout a 'thanks' before calmly making our way to the headmistress, knowing we are about to get an earful our way.

Finally reaching the office, we meet Guardian Alto at the door who looks our way and smirks as he speaks.

"Ah, finally decided to grace us with your presence. This, I expect from you, Hathaway, but I expected better from you Castile." He smirks, looking us over with a sneer on his face.

"What can I say Stanny boy, she's a bad influence…" Eddie says as he shoulders me with a grin, and we are let into the silent office as we come face to face with various figures.

"Take a seat you two." Kirova states as we are pushed into the seats by Alto, who wears a shit-eating grin behind us. Looking around, I notice the headmistress, Petrov, Alto and Dimitri stood around the office. As I meet Dimitri's gaze though, it hardens, and he stares me down with a disappointed gaze.

With a quick glance at Eddie, we turn to meet Kirova's stare as she speaks.

"Care to explain where you two have been this last week and why exactly you've bothered to come back…? Surely you both realised that the second you left; you were kicked out of the academy." She sneers as she lays her hands on the desk before her.

"We had some matters to attend to." Eddie diplomatically states as he leans forward slightly, ever the respectful one when it's needed, while I roll my eyes and cross my legs and arms.

"And what matters were they?"

Cutting Eddie off, I add, "I don't see how that's any of your business. Now, tell us if we've been kicked out or not so we can deal with that."

"Ignore her." Eddie says as he points to me, causing me to grin, "We were in New York, helping an old family friend. It was a last-minute decision and time didn't allow us to tell anyone before leaving."

"So, you both think, that it's completely acceptable, for you to come and go from this academy, from your studies, as you please. Tell me, how do either of you plan to become guardians if this is the way you act." Kirova states before Alberta cuts in.

"What the headmistress is trying to say is, why did you go and not tell anyone?" She says looking at us imploringly, trying to find a way to help us out of the situation we have gotten ourselves into.

"We didn't have a chance to, it was family issues. Telling someone we were leaving wasn't our main priority." I speak, leaning forward and speaking with some respect to the dhampir in front.

"You know, the Princess has asked you to not be her guardian, Hathaway? She can't have a guardian she can't rely on you; you see?" Alto mentions from behind me.

"I know." I mention, not letting them on to how much it upsets me, even if it was never going to happen anyway.

"Look, I've spoken to the Headmistress, "Alberta starts as she watches us with narrow eyes, "and you can stay and continue your studies but nothing like this can happen again. And you'll both have to take extra sessions for what you've missed this week with myself and Guardian Belikov."

"What about my sessions with Belikov anyway?" I ask aloud as they all look at me. I can feel his gaze burrowing into the side of my head.

"What do you mean Rose?" Alberta wonders.

"Well, I need to catch up from this week yeah, but what about my general sessions with him. We all know that both Eddie and I surpass the class in our skills, and giving one of your top novices' extra sessions when they'd be more useful to others would be better, right? Or it'd at least give you more manpower without having to lose a guardian for a few hours to train a novice." I admit, as I look at Alberta.

"If you're to be the Princess's Guardian, you'll need all the training you can get." Dimitri states as he moves away from the wall and next to Alberta, trying to meet my gaze.

"But Guardian Alto just said it himself. I'm not going to be her guardian. So why prepare me for it?"

Before either he or Alberta can come up with an argument, Kirova speaks up, "I think that's the best idea you've ever come up with Hathaway. As long as you can both prove where you were and why, you can stay and your sessions with Belikov will be cancelled."

Thank god, both myself and Eddie think but catching onto what she said exactly.

"Wait, what do you mean proof?" Eddie asks as she sits in her seat.

"Give me your phone and call whoever it was you were with. They'll prove if you're saying the truth." She glared while I dragged my phone out of my pocket and handed it to her, already having pulled up Sydney's number up.

Looking at Eddie quickly, I say, "Her name's Sydney.", as Kirova dials the number and puts it on loudspeaker.

"Hey, didn't I just drop you guys off?" Sydney speaks before Kirova interrupts.

"This is Headmistress Kirova, were Hathaway and Castile with you this past week?"

"Yes. They were with me. I had some family problems and Rose and Eddie helped me." Thank god she called me Rose…

"Okay thank you." Then she hangs up and hands me back the phone again. As I'm about to pocket it, she questions. "Have you got her parents number?"

Looking at Eddie annoyedly, he quickly says, "Yeah, call her dad. It's Bobby on our phones." He says as I catch on and hope to god it works.

Dialling Bobby Singer's number and handing it to Kirova, we hear Bobby answer.

"Yes?" Bobby says immediately.

"Is this Mr Sage?"

"No, it's King Kong. What do you want?" Classic Bobby. Haha! That'll get on Kirova's nerves.

"I was wondering if you could tell me if Rose Hathaway was with you this past week?" Praying that he catches on and helps us, we cross our fingers subtly as we hope it works.

"Yeah, she was with me. What's it to you?" And he shoots and scores. I can tell by Kirova's face that she is disgusted by Bobby's words and tone of voice and that she isn't happy.

"I was just wondering. I'm sorry for wast…" But Bobby hangs up before she finishes. Playing the dickhead of a Dad down to a tee. "Well, it seems that your whereabouts can be confirmed, you're free to leave. But anything else, and that's you both gone. Understood?" Nodding, we're told to leave and pretty much run out of the room as the Guardians slowly walk out but we make sure not to look back.

"Rose, Eddie… a word." We hear lowly from Alberta as her and Dimitri wait for us to come back to them.

Looking at each other, Eddie starts walking first as I huff from his side, muttering under my breath how we should have stayed in New York.

We arrive in front of the two dhampirs and wait for them to speak.

"What in the hell were you thinking?" Alberta starts, sternly telling us off. "You risked everything you had here, and for what… some girl I've never heard you mention?"

"She needed our help. What were we meant to do?" I ask, as I shoot a glare at her.

"Not run off. We understood why you left last time with the Princess, but this was uncalled for. It was stupid. And now, you may never be her guardian… is that what you want?" She speaks, staring at me.

"Maybe it is…" I speak, staring ahead at the two, causing them to both jump back.

"Roz… Rose," I hear Dimitri start, "You don't mean that."

The Council said to make waves, be fiery, cause issues… so that's what we're going to do. "It is. Why am I wasting my time in learning how to kill Strigoi when all I'll be is a guard dog for a bunch of Moroi who have actual magic at their hands…" I utter as I raise my arms slightly to express my point.

They both stare, shocked at my outburst as Alberta speaks. "They come first, Rose. You know this."

And this, is one thing that keeps me from becoming too invested in their world. The whole concept that a dhampirs life is worth less than the Moroi… It's disgusting.

"No… they don't." I say before Eddie adds in.

"Rose is right… we train but for what? To lay down our lives for a bunch of Moroi who couldn't care less!" He exclaims, walking away as I follow him, and I feel Dimitri grab my wrist as Alberta shouts at us.

"It's what we are raised to do, it's what we are good at."

Ripping my hands from him, I walk to Eddie's side as I point at the two, Headmistress Kirova now having come out to see the commotion along with Alto and a few other guardians.

"_No-one… _And I mean _no-one, _is raised to die! It's wrong. We are capable of so much more than just dying for Moroi lives. How many of us have died for them? How many more will? It's a losing battle, why risk our lives for it?" I shout at all of them before we leave to the dorms.

Once we lose sight of the guardians, we both huddle into my room in the girl's dorms.

"I've wanted to do that for a looong time." Eddie admits before falling onto my bed.

Laughing, I nod my head as I fall on my desk chair. "I bet some of the novices heard that. We were only outside the dorms." I admit as my head leans back.

"We'll know when we get bombarded in class tomorrow." Eddie states as he swirls to look at me. "These dhampirs, they follow the Royals so blindly… It's pathetic really."

"I know. But remember what the Elders said."

He nods as he continues for me, "Cause a rebellion, even teach Moroi to defend themselves. Then lead them. Make sure to get people on your side. Make someone understand that Hunters and Elementals aren't bad. That we are here to help. And that we want the war ended…"

"Yeah… too late to go back now…" I add before making my way to my bed as I push him off. "Go to your room, I'm tired, feathers. I'll see you in the morning."

Chuckling to himself, he rolls off of my bed and makes his way to the door, "I'll see you later Sparky."

And at that, he leaves, leaving me in my room on my own with my thoughts. Finally, we can do _something_. It won't be long now. And we can stop pretending…

Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 2 - Differences

**Chapter 2 - Differences**

The next morning, I get ready to make my way to breakfast after having a lie-in due to my sessions with Dimitri cancelled now. I love the time we spent together in that gym, but I need to distance myself from him, it's too risky for the cause for me to put my emotions and feelings for him out there with everything going on. I slipped up in Spokane, got to close…

As I make my way out of my room, I see Meredith, the only other dhampir girl here at the academy, and I'm taken aback slightly by the daggers sent my way. Usually, we'd have a quick chat in the morning… then I remembered the slight argument Eddie and I had with the guardians outside. She must have heard it.

Sighing to myself, I roll my eyes before making my way to the cafeteria. These dhampirs… loyal to a fault… it's what's going to get them all killed in the end.

Just outside the food hall, I meet the eyes of other novices and even a few guardians who look at me like less of a person, that because I disagree with something, I'm now a completely different person. The sight makes me laugh as I run into Eddie who's currently arguing with Mason quietly.

As I look up at the two, I notice the Seraphim looks exasperated as Mason has a furious glare now directed at me.

"And you… you're the last person I thought would have thought that… the Moroi need us Rose. What else are we meant to do?!" He shouts now, making everyone turn their heads at us.

Rolling my eyes, I look at him before speaking, "All I'm saying is why should we die for them? I you want to hunt Strigoi do it… but if every capable dhampir spends their life guarding Moroi who are more than capable of looking after themselves, the whole Strigoi situation will only get worse." I grab Eddie's wrist and drag him into the building. I'm really not in the mood to deal with this _before _I eat. As we get our plates and pile them up with whatever's on the menu, I automatically make my way towards Christian, Adrian, Lissa and Mia and don't actually notice the stares at me as I sit.

"Where the hell have you been little dhampir?" Adrian states angrily, "and what's all this shouting about?!"

Before I can reply, Lissa starts, "I'm surprised you came back. Got bored of being a blood whore Rose?" She calmly states to which I look at her in shock and hurt. Why would she say something like that?

I can see the rest of the group is just as shocked as they watch her cautiously. But I steel myself and look her directly into her jade eyes. "I was visiting a friend, but what the hell is this about me not being your guardian Liss!?" I huff, looking at her curiously. Off the bat, I can notice a difference in her… This isn't Lissa, not really. Something's… off.

And I see Eddie notices it too as he meets my eyes.

"I don't need a lazy novice as my guardian Rose. Now do me a favour and stay out of my way." She stands up, dragging Christian along with her and just before she leaves, she turns and quietly but calmly says, "I bought you back to life. I can easily take it back. Remember that." And as the threat lingers in the air, she leaves, leaving two shocked Moroi with us.

Eddie and I know that the threat is a lie. That Spirit isn't capable of that. But the fact that she says it… makes me wonder what happened to her.

I shake my head before meeting Adrian's expected gaze. Sighing, I speak, "To answer your question, we were in New York helping an old friend. Sorry we didn't have a chance to speak to you or tell you about it."

Mia looks at us in shock for a second before she starts asking all sorts of questions about New York, a city she's always wanted to go too. After about ten minutes of grilling us about every little detail about the city that never sleeps, I watch her leave to class as Eddie and I are about to get up but stopped by Adrian.

"Now tell me what you were actually doing…?" He whispers, watching the two of us through a spirit-induced gaze.

Warily, we say, "We were just in New York with a friend."

"I know that, but that's not all you were doing… what aren't you telling me? And what's this I hear of you two trying to incite fights amongst the dhampir…"

I look at Eddie before looking back towards the Moroi, "We just mentioned how we thought it was ridiculous that dhampirs were essentially trained to die for Moroi and that we thought the whole idea of it was… well, bullshit."

He sighs to himself before raising his hands to his head and looking at us again but whispers very lowly as he leans in closer…

"What I'm trying to say is…" Adrian starts but stops suddenly. He watches us intently then, as if he's studying something about us.

"Look Adrian…" Eddie starts, "if you haven't got anything else to say, we'll see you at lunch, we gotta get to class."

And at that we quickly make our way to class, leaving Adrian where he sat, still watching us intently with a removed look on his face.

"What the hell was that about?" Eddie asked as he moved his hands through his short hair.

Shaking my head, I replied, "I haven't a clue… guess it's just Adrian being Adrian I guess." And at that, we quickly make our way to the gym where our first class is beginning and, on the way, we discuss how we are going to go about this plan of ours.

"Thing is, you know what these vampires are like, anything they don't like, they get rid of. If we do too much, they may just kick us out and then what use will us stirring trouble do…" Eddie adds, as he kicks a few stones in front of us, keeping our heads down from all the students staring at us, no doubt having heard of our little outburst with Mason this morning and the Guardians earlier on.

"I know… we'll have to be careful. Try to keep it quiet, out of the classroom. You and I both know that there are a few Moroi out there who want to learn to protect themselves. Mia Rinaldi for one… maybe we should speak to her, tell her we want to help Moroi. Especially non-royals."

"That's a good idea. She can easily get to other Moroi then too. But the dhampirs? What to do about them?"

Looking down at the ground, I think, "The dhampirs are a tough one. All of the ones here are firm believers in their way of life, however insane it is. We'll have to think on that later."

Finally, we see the gym, and enter to start our first class of the day. As we both try to ignore the stares and glares of all the dhampirs in the room, we set aside our bags as we get ready to practise our combat training and everyone automatically gets into pairs and Eddie and I make our way to a mat at the back of the room, far removed from everyone else. As we hear Alto shout start, we circle each other before I strike first, being careful to keep to their style of fighting, however hard it is.

Ten minutes later, and we are both stuck on an even fight, as we block and defend each attack from the other and we almost miss Alto coming over to us as he watches us with a blank gaze. Finally, I manage to take Eddie down, as I force him to the floor, my legs pushing down his chest and arms securing his head. He taps out and we both get up where we meet the Guardian's gaze.

"Can we help you, Alto?" I ask as the entire class now watches.

"It's probably for the best that neither you wish to be Guardians, seeing as you barely took down a dhampir." He comments, sneering at us, before turning away and the class resumes.

I lock eyes onto Eddie as we both start grinning uncontrollably. Yeah, it was definitely a dhampir we barely took down…

We restart then, and for the rest of the morning we go from class to class until it's time for lunch.

I walk alone to the cafeteria as Eddie and I had different lessons, and I notice Mia bounding up to me, almost anxiously. As she sidles up to my left, I look her over as I watch her wring her hands nervously.

"What's up Mia?" I wonder as I slow down, watching the Moroi girl before she matches my gaze, sighs and pulls me to the side.

"Is it true?" She questions, "That you both don't want to be Guardians?"

She watches me with a bated breath as I reply and sigh, "No, we don't. I want to stop Strigoi, and help people protect themselves. But, all this training, it shouldn't mean I end up being a glorified guard dog for the rest of my life."

I take a seat at a bench in the shadows as she joins me. I look to her as I continue, "Moroi can do so much more… and neither of us think it's fair that the majority of you… everyone who's non-royal or can't afford a guardian, doesn't know how to protect themselves from the Strigoi."

She grins then, as her tight blonde ringlets bounce around her face.

"You know, I always thought you were a staunch dhampir Rose. Being so close to the Royals and all that… You may not know this, but most of the non-royals aren't big fans of the dhampir…" She mutters lowly, giggling at this unknown secret.

My head whips around then, because this _was _in fact, news to me.

"What do you mean?" I wonder as she looks around before continuing.

"The dhampir, here and outside the academy, at least the ones who are wanting to be or _are already _Guardians, don't really notice us. If you're not royal, you tend to be irrelevant to the dhampir… Same goes for the royals. It's why you see such a big divide in all three groups here and outside. The dhampirs essentially kiss ass to the royals and the royals love it. Before… Spokane… I thought you were the same, and even after, as I watched you follow the princess around like she was some… god… but hearing this… I'm sorry I judged you so quickly."

I watch her quietly, as I take in the information. Neither Eddie nor I had ever really thought about the difference in groups. We thought it was a royal vs non-royal thing, never had it crossed our minds that the non-royal Moroi didn't really get on with the dhampirs but looking back at it… it was so obvious. Apart from a handful, I'd only ever spoken to Royal Moroi here, and never really crossed paths with anyone else.

Maybe… just maybe, this could work in our favour…

"I had no clue…" I started, "Looking back though, I should have known there was such a divide, but I was blind to it." I take her hands then as I look into her eyes, "honestly, Mia, I'm so sorry."

She sighs then before smiling at me, "It's okay. To be honest, I wanted to get into the royal circle for years but recently, I've decided what's the point? The royals don't care about us, so why should I about them?" And as we sit there, I look at Mia, and I mean, really look at her, and I don't see the annoying bitchy girl I thought she was in the past, but a girl who was so sick of their system here and how, even though her and all other Moroi, were expected to dote on the 12 families and even praise dhampirs for what they did, she wasn't interested. And my respect for the girl then grew so much.

"I actually wanted to ask you a question though Rose…" She started before looking nervous again.

"Sure, what is it?" I ask, as my head tilts to the side.

"Could you… if you don't mind… teach me how to fight?" She asks, and I watch the hope in her eyes.

"I…" I'm cut off before I can answer as both of our attention is dragged away by the commotion at the cafeteria doors.

Mia and I both quickly make our way over as we see Eddie and Mason on the floor, brawling and throwing punches at each other. My eyes widen as I take in the scene before I rush to pull them apart and as Alto and Dimitri have Mason, I quickly grab Eddie's hand and flee the scene, before they actually notice it was Eddie and we make our way to the Church attic where I can tell him about Mia and question him on whatever in hell that whole thing was…

"What on earth was…" I started before he fell dramatically into a seat.

"It was him okay. I did nothing, but I heard him and the other novices speaking about what we'd said and then he just… attacked… It was all of them, but the guardians quickly got involved but they didn't really see who it was." He huffed as he let his wings then fall open as he flapped them lightly. "I'm getting fucking sick of these dhampirs you know…"

Sighing, I take a seat from across him as I start, "Yeah, I know. But… I have good news." His head pops up, eyes looking at me questioningly. "I just had an interesting chat with Mia…"

"And…? Don't let me wait in suspense Charlie."

Laughing slightly, I continue, "According to her, the Moroi, not the royals now, actually aren't fond of the dhampirs as well as the oh so beloved monarchy they have."

Raising an eyebrow at me, he questions, "What in the hell do you mean Pyro?"

Rolling my eyes, "I mean, they aren't as keen as the whole Guardian guarding Royal Moroi and them not being allowed to learn how to fight as we thought they are. It may be the common Moroi are the key to starting this rebellion the Council told us to start…"

He ponders the idea quietly, as he rises and paces the room, wings folded against his back but still visible.

A few minutes go by until he speaks, "Then we start there. Make connections with the non-royal Moroi. I hadn't even realised we hadn't…" He uttered before hiding his wings then.

"Neither did I… _but _she asked me to train her. And at least for now, it'd have to be physical, not elemental, but it's a start…"

Nodding, we both smile, as we then decide to leave the attic and having realised enough time had passed from the little fight, make our way to get lunch as we both hear our stomachs growl.

We walk into the cafeteria and watch as the novices glare and whisper at us, but ignoring the rising tension amongst the dhampirs in the room, we go to sit with Mia and Adrian, who as he notices us, gets that weird look back on his face again.

As we sit down with our food, I look to Mia and smile before speaking, "We'll train you."

Immediately, she jumps across the table and grabs us into a hug before sitting back down, still visibly excited.

"Thank you so much. It really means a lot." She speaks and as Adrian still looks off into the distance unfocused, we speak about what we can do and arrange to meet her in the church attic after lessons are over.

The times flies and before we know it, it's time for our next lesson as Mia quickly runs to her class and Eddie and I get up to leave. I sigh as he goes off and I make my way to class a little slower, but just as I'm about to leave, Adrian grabs my arm and pulls me down again.

I look at him strangely before asking, "Is everything okay Adrian?"

He nods then but quickly changes his mind. "I'm not sure… I can't seem to put my finger on it." He speaks vaguely, looking at me but… not at the same time... What is he doing? "I don't know why Rose… but it's so subtle… I might be wrong… but it's there… I swear it is."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I ask as I lean forward, watching the Moroi with a worried gaze.

"It's just, I could almost swear, that you and Eddie both have auras of elements in your auras…" He mutters, and I tense suddenly. He notices as his eyes narrow again and I quickly stand up and leave before saying, "I don't know where you get these things from Adrian, maybe you should stay off the drink." And quickly make my way out of the building and to my next lesson, the encounter playing on my mind.

Surely, he can't know, can he?

I know he can tell the difference in elements with Moroi, he said himself he knew about Lissa because hers was a gold but in _us…_ I didn't realise he was _that _good at reading auras…

I need to tell Eddie…

Grabbing my phone out, I text him quickly to let him know.

**Text to: Feathers**

**From: The sparky Winchester**

**Adrian might know we have something to do with air and fire from our auras. I doubt he knows the full story but be careful… We may have to watch Ivashkov a little closer from now on.**

As I send the text, I worry slightly because if we are found out _now _then, everything we are trying to do would be a waste of time. Also, they may try to kill us before we even have a chance to leave and run.

My phone vibrates in my pocket as I pull it out and read the reply from Eddie.

**From: Feathers**

**To: The Sparky Winchester**

**Shit, okay will do. Let's hope he doesn't figure it out anytime soon…**

Yeah, let's hope he doesn't…

I take a seat in my next few classes and try to ignore the bad feeling in my gut. Mia watches me closely I notice, and she must have noticed the worried look on my face when walking in, but she says nothing and instead asks about her training.

"So, what will be doing then?" She asks as she keeps me distracted and I smile at her before speaking.

"Well, first we'll have a talk about what you can do already, make you go up against us. We'll also try and figure out how your magic could play into it. But, at the same time, it's not exactly true that Moroi are unable to fight… they just choose not to. You're small, so we can sue that to your advantage, but your water may be your biggest strength…"

She looks at me confused as she asks, "How do you mean? My magic can't kill Strigoi…"

I laugh quietly as I look at her, "No, but you could stop them. Keep them in place, maybe even freeze them. And if there's more than one or two, getting to a safe place may be your best bet, especially if you're only just starting training…"

As I speak, her eyes widen in amazement at the thought of what her magic could do and it's something I've never really understood about the Moroi. They have this amazing power at their fingertips, but none of them ever learn or even understand just how to use it. It's all for show, little theatrical tricks, not the amazing magic it could be…

It's why we don't call it magic for us, Hunters and Elementals, but bending. It's based off of a martial arts style, depending on your bending, and it's an art form that has been with us since we first existed.

We carry on speaking about her training as she asks questions on how to fight and when to fight and before we know it, it's the end of the day and we make our way to the church attic to meet Eddie before dinner.

As we walk up the narrow and damp staircase to the dusty attic, we walk in through the small door and notice Eddie looking around the room before noticing our arrival.

"So here you wanna fight then?" Eddie quips as he smirks and takes a seat in the old and dirty room. "Well, before that, we are going to have to work on your stamina, muscle and all that. There isn't much point in fighting if you haven't got the capacity for it."

"That's okay," Mia adds, grinning, "Whatever I need to do I'll do."

"Well, you have no experience previous…" I start, "And you're Moroi… you're all a little… lazy."

She raises a brow at me as she laughs and I continue, "But… we could get a little muscle on you. Every morning and night, you'll need to sneak out of your room, and we'll go for a run, to build that stamina in you, and then get you doing some weights on the way, to build up some muscle."

She nods happily at the prospect before turning serious and speaking, "Are you two sure you wanna do this? I mean, couldn't you get in trouble."

"We need to do this Mia. It's what we want to do. Trust me, we want to help." I comment as I reassure the girl. "Plus, troubles what I'm made for."

"She's right, we don't mind. We're happy to help. But you seriously need to get some stamina. If you're ever in trouble, the best thing to do is run. Especially now. When you're more experienced and could stand your ground in a good fight, then you could try and kill a Strigoi… but right now. Running is your best weapon. That is, until Rose here figures out just how you can use your magic to your advantage."

"That sounds good to me." Mia adds and suddenly, Eddie grabs her up and pushes her to the door.

"Good, cause your first run starts now. Rose, we'll meet you later at dinner." Eddie shouts as they leave.

"Wait, aren't you coming Rose?" Mia asks.

"I'll meet you in the morning, Eddie will do night, I'm going to do some research on water and see what I can come up with but have a _great _time." I shout as I watch them make their way to the forest line, hidden from the guardians but still within the wards.

In the meantime, I make my way towards Lissa's dorm, intending on figuring out the completely unexpected reaction to my return…

As I make my way to her dorm room, I think about how to handle the situation. As much as I hate how close we are due to the way it affects my thinking on this mission, she's still my bond mate. I need to help her, if not _for her_, but then for me and Toothless, because this darkness she's creating is seeping into us and it won't end well…

Before I know it, I'm outside her door and knock as I hear her voice from inside.

The door opens to reveal Christian, who looks tired and worried at me.

"Rose, look. Now isn't the best time…" He starts as I hear Lissa shout from behind him.

"Rose!" And I hear her bounding towards the door as Christian opens it further, revealing a smiling and slightly guilty Lissa behind it. Shocked at this change in dynamic towards me, I'm unsure of what to say as I stay quiet as I stand in the doorway.

She flings herself at me and I quickly catch Dimitri's gaze from his stance on the wall. He must be guarding her.

"Rose, I'm so so so sorry for what I said this morning, I don't know what came over me, I wasn't in control. I think it was Spirit, please can you forgive me?!" She sobbed into my shoulder as I looked at her bewildered… whatever _that _was this morning, I know it wasn't spirit, I can tell when it is.

But I should probably go along with it for now, until I know what really caused it.

"It's okay Liss, I forgive you. And I'm sorry for leaving without mentioning anything, I just didn't really get a chance." I add as I hug her back.

She drags me into her dorm then, as Christian, begrudgingly, closes the door behind. What happened there?

She sits me down on the sofa she has in her over-size room and watches me closely as she smiles, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"It's okay, you just scared me… I though you left me…" She whispers before grinning, "But, now that you're back. Will you be my Guardian again?" She asks me, and I see Dimitri tense slightly at my awaited response. "I couldn't imagine anyone but you, it's what we always wanted."

I sigh quietly before matching her expected and hopeful gaze, "Lissa, what I said about Guardians and everything earlier…" I start before she cuts me off.

"I understand Rose, you didn't mean it. You were just mad at me, it's my fault. Everyone knows it's not what you really want."

Even though Lissa is my bond mate and supposed 'best friend', sometimes it shocks me at how little she really knows me…

"Lissa…" I start before sighing and moving away slightly, "That's the thing… I _did _mean it." I hear gasp and start to convince me otherwise, but I stand up and walk towards the door. "It's nothing against you, or because I was mad because honestly… I was relieved I wouldn't have to be your guardian. I love you, but I don't want my whole life to revolve around you. I want to be my own person, not just your guardian."

"But Rose, you _are _your own person… no-one says you're not." She says, shocked that for once, I disagreed with her.

"I want to do more than watch you live your life. I wanna go out there and help people. And do it my way, not yours." I add before opening the door, "If you don't like it, tough… but if you're going to hate me for doing what I feel is right… then maybe we aren't as close as I thought…" And with that, I leave, being sure to cut off any notion that I will _ever _be her guardian. I couldn't do it. Plus, with everything that's going to happen in the next few months… I need her to know that. To understand it…

I hear her opening the door behind me and feel myself hear her thoughts again as the bond is clear once again. I feel her feelings, the sadness, guilt…

In my mind, I hear her apologise, for what I don't know but I need to leave for a bit as her feelings wash over me and I feel them overwhelm me.

I'd always felt another presence in my mind. From the day I met him, Toothless and I had formed a bond, much deeper than the shadow kissed one I had with Liss, but it was two ways. I felt what he was feeling, and he felt what I was. We could communicate through it and we were, almost, as if we were one soul in two bodies. But with Lissa, it was damaging. Instead of becoming one, it was all her. I had no input. Just her emotions, and thoughts, and memories and _darkness…_ seeping into me and Toothless. It was slowly breaking us. And we didn't really know how to stop it. Being shadow kissed wasn't common, in Elementals or Moroi…

But, as I felt the build up of darkness flow into me, I struggled to hold it together as I felt my palms heating up, my blood boiling. I ran then, as the energy threatened to overtake me, as my control on my own powers threatened to be unleash, I ran deep into the forest, passed the wards and I heard a familiar scream as I launched my legs further and quicker.

I could _feel _him hurting. Feel him losing control. I ran into the clearing when I saw him, destroying a tree with his claws, anything to let out the rage building inside. I slipped onto his back and he flew up, higher than we've ever flown before and carried on, the growl escaping him echoing in the vast sky around us, as his wings took us higher and higher. My flames were falling from my hands now, my entire body heating up.

We had to let go, this was the worst it had ever been. A whole weeks' worth thrown onto us at once… It hurt.

As we reached as high as we could, he opened his jaw to roar as bright shots of plasma shot through the sky, illuminating the clouds around us, and trying to focus the energy into my hand, I shot it out below us, flames bursting into a giant cone of fire. We were directly over the academy but high enough that we couldn't be spotted ourselves as it happened. And I could just see the people outside watching, and screaming, at the sight. As the sky was alight with fire, the roars of a beast were heard…


End file.
